The report Avoiding Blind Spots: Promoting Circular & Fair Business Models by Circle Economy, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and The Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) provides an overview of the blindspots - the unintended, unaddressed or underexplored negative impacts - of promoting circular business models.

The aim is to get a holistic understanding of the impacts of circular business models, specifically taking into account the social sphere.

The report considers three circular business models (repair, resale and product as a service - PaaS) and four types of blindspots (governance, market, social and environmental).

Recommendations for (EU) policy makers, public procurers and businesses are then formulated to address these blindspots.

The TwinRevolution project supports Vocational Education and Training (VET) learners from the textile and furniture industries on their green and digital transition journey.

The blueprint Twin transition in the manufacturing sector offers an overview of the current challenges faced by the sector. Best practices examples from both industries illustrate how smart and circular approaches can accelerate the transformation of these two sectors.

Following a literature review detailing the current state of industry 4.0 and circular economy in both sectors, the report highlights how specific Key Enabling Technologies can support a twin transition.

In September 2019, nine Resourceful Cities embarked on their journey to develop next-generation urban resource centres as a way to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. 

The nine cities together with their local stakeholders were all able to deliver a high-quality Integrated Action Plan. Every one of those action plans is not just an expression of their resilience in times of crisis: it is also a manifestation of their individual response to their local context and needs.

This publication summarises their collective journey as a network and tells the story of each of the nine partner cities from their own perspective. Their journey shows that cities are big enough to make a difference and small enough to make it happen.

The textile industry’s figures are clear: of the 648 000 tons of textiles placed on the market each year in France, only 38% are collected for recycling.

The 10 proposals set out in this white paper (in French) seek to meet three objectives. The first consists of building the Extended Producer Responsibility approach around environmental benefits. The second is to support the development of a sustainable textile and footwear recycling industry. The last is to meet the legitimate expectations of transparency and traceability. The proposals aim to achieve these objectives in the context of the three key steps in a product’s lifecycle: (1) fabrication, (2) consumption, and (3) regeneration.

There can be no doubt that circular demand creates opportunities for circular supply. But how can closed loop criteria be integrated into public procurement, which represents nearly 14% of Europe's GDP? To figure it out, Renewable Matter interviewed Helena O'Rourke-Potocki and Simon Clement, respectively circular economy and procurement officer and senior coordinator on the circular economy at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.

ICLEI is a global network working with more than 2 500 local and regional governments committed to driving local action towards a social and ecological transition. In future, whether purchasing services or products such as buildings, furniture and food, local authorities will need to look for increasingly sustainable supplies.

The framework for inclusive circular trade is designed to help guide trade and trade-related circular economy and development policies, practices and agreements to ensure these all work towards a shared goal of an inclusive circular economy.

This paper sets out a framework for inclusive circular trade, intended to enable a pathway in which circular trade helps to promote fair, inclusive and circular societies. The framework was developed through the work of an alliance of organizations spanning Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe.

Chatham House does not express opinions of its own. The opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the authors. A Spanish translation of the paper is also available as a PDF.

Are there limits to robustness in our socio-economic metabolism? And is 100% circularity rate in the EU27 theoretically possible? Can we use principles and indicators from regenerative economics to develop (rather than just grow) regenerative circular economies?

These aspects are being discussed together with Dr. Dominika Alexa Teigiserova, assistant prof. Dr. Daan Schraven, prof. Martin de Jong, prof. Xin Tong, and prof. Bob Ulanowicz in the paper entitled: Are there limits to robustness? Exploring tools from regenerative economics for a balanced transition towards a circular EU27.

This peer reviewed paper is open access and published in the special issue "Sustainable Cities in the Context of Economic Transformation and Climate Change" of the Cleaner Production Letters journal.

In March, the European Commission released its Circular Economy Package which includes a proposal for an Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). The ESPR identifies a Digital Product Passport (DPP) as key, enhancing the traceability of products and their components.

The Taskforce for climate neutral and circular materials and products and the Wuppertal Institute have released their new report. This report builds on business insights into how a well-designed DPP could enable climate action and enhanced circularity in the EU.

Circular Buildings: constructing a sustainable future is the latest addition to a series of publications from Holland Circular Hotspot about circular challenges and opportunities in different sectors including infrastructure, plastics, manufacturing and textiles and apparel industries.

It explores how circular economy concepts can help tackle challenges in the building sector, supporting the transition towards a more sustainable and futureproof industry. It provides 25 good practices from the construction value chain and offers a framework for an international shift towards circular construction comprising policies, measurement standards, collaboration initiatives and knowledge exchange.